Rain Ready–NEW Product Sneak-peek

Despite the occasional thought that if we wear some color this time of year, it will somehow magically alter the advent of a precipitating forecast, some days, Nature just says “Nope. Not gonna happen”.

There are old dictums about style and the changing of seasons such as “black is for the city, and brown is for the country”, and “April showers bring May flowers”. However much credit you give to these old sayings, it is important to dress for the uncontrollable factors (e.g. the weather) you will be encountering throughout the day. What’s the solution for surviving the seemingly incessant rains of Spring? It is the adoption of purposeful dressing.

Enter the Dainite sole: Made in Britain since 1894 by the Harboro Rubber Company, this particular sole is perfect for rainy, wet, and slippery endeavors. The low-profile cut of black rubber creates a side view that takes on the appearance of a normal dress shoe, but underneath is where the secret sauce lies. The unassuming sole has several rounded studs that keep your feet in place while it rids itself of dirt and moisture (unlike other types of rubber-soled shoes and hiking boots which can actually clinch dirt). This sleek construction is a true workhorse and it should be your first “go-to” when the weatherman’s outlook brings cause for alarm.

The soles I’m wearing in the pictures are actually something we’re calling a “Double Dainite” or a Dainite sole with an added midsole, and the shoe style is a sneak peek of what’s to come later this Fall…more on that in another post. However, you don’t have to wait until Fall to give the weather a run for its money, this sole is currently being offered on some of our timeless classics like the McAllister, the new-classic Lexington, and their more casual brothers such as the Oak Street and Clark Street. So the question is, “Should you go for it?” Well… some guys are hard-core leather-sole dress shoe guys and they’ll tell you that leather soles are superior in every circumstance. Some gents only wear rubber bottomed shoes because they want to feel prepared, all the time. I like to wear both, and I wear them purposefully. There’s something about leather-soled dress shoes that I just can’t give up—a wardrobe staple in many respects, but Dainite is truly an all-weather sole that I’m learning to appreciate the more I wear it. If you haven’t tried Dainite before, it may be the best thing your feet will discover all year.